At first glance, the release of MediaWorks’ financial figures this week shows an organisation treading water but slowly moving upwards towards the dry land of profitability. On the surface, a net loss after tax of $5.7 million is not the result hoped for but with the perspective of a loss in the previous year of $14.8 million, the progress is significant.

Mazda and 99 are continuing to brandish the brawny BT-50 ute, showcasing its multiple uses from beach trips to boat transport and transporting beastly trevally.

A round of applause for Fisher & Paykel, Mazda, Monteith’s, and Scapegrace.

Industry happenings at Raydar, Weta Workshops and Reload & Smoke.

Fisher & Paykel and Alt Group have released a TVC the unveils a new range of kitchen and laundry appliances and cements the brand’s spot as a premium globally renowned brand.

Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.

Phantom Billstickers is showing its support for New Zealand Music Month with a series of #MusiciansOfAotearoa posters featuring up-and-coming and underground artists.

Creative shop EightyOne has appointed Chris Bleackley as creative director. While Bleackley has long been part of the picture at EightyOne, he’s now joined to take the helm and is helping to run the ship.

To showcase the talents of its design community, Idealog magazine teamed up with Blunt and Generator to launch the Blunt + Idealog + Generator Umbrella Experiment. I asked Kiwis to submit an umbrella design and winner Bonnie Brown of Studio Bon will now see her design turned into a limited edition Blunt umbrella. Watch this space for details on how to buy one in the near future, or get your pre-order in now. In the meantime, we chat with Brown and have a closer look at her winning design.

To celebrate its 150th anniversary, Monteith’s has released ‘Brewed for Right Now’, a campaign by Colenso BBDO watching how its brews have ingrained themselves in Kiwis lives. We speak to DB marketing director Sean O’Donnell and Colenso executive creative director Dan Wright about how the campaign showcases the brand’s heritage while moving it into the future.

It was April last year Martin Yeoman and Jamie Hitchcock announced their departure from Assignment Group to start their own agency The Enthusiasts. They’ve since gone on to pick up project work for Ti Ora tea from JDE (formerly Brew Group), 2degrees, 1Above and Al Brown’s Fresh Catch, and clients including 3 Wise Men and Goodman Fielder. Earlier this year, they sat down with NZ Marketing to reflect on the year that’s been and how their history in the industry is carving their future.

Creative director, copywriter and author Dave Trott will be delivering the keynote address at the forthcoming Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ) conference. Ahead of his visit, Trott gives his thoughts on social media, the significance of awards, putting together the best team and creating a standout message.

Designer David Trubridge explores New Zealand’s complicated love/hate relationship with how we promote ourselves to the world.

Earlier this month, education platform Unfiltered dropped its paywall, giving free access to its interviews with entrepreneurs and business leaders. We speak to co-founder Jake Millar about the rationale behind a move that’s going in a different direction to other online platforms.

Karma Cola UK has celebrated the coincidence of the royal wedding and Redhead Day, releasing a new campaign that pays tribute to ginger royalist Prince Harry.

Mitsubishi, TVNZ, and 2degrees show us how it is done.

Here at StopPress and NZ Marketing, it’s our job to find the most interesting things to cover, whether new campaigns, big shifts or thorny issues. But it’s not a one-way street. We’re always talking with our contacts to figure out what we should be writing about and what the industry is talking about. But we want to go a bit wider. So, in a regular survey run by TRA, we’re asking for your opinions on everything from the effectiveness of recent campaigns to the most under-rated marketing disciplines.

Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.

While agency folk basked in champaign and celebration at The Beacon Awards last Thursday night, advertising network VMO sat discretely in the corner of the room harvesting data.

2degrees is rolling out the next phase of its new brand campaign, this time centred on its business offering, as well as introducing three new ads to its suite of creative.

Foodstuffs group general manager of marketing Steve Bayliss is set to depart the company, StopPress understands.

Next month is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and to get the message out there, this weekend a campaign showing that bowel cancer can affect young people is rolling out. It will hit our screens, radios, streets and papers thanks to the goodwill of agencies and media companies offering pro bono creative and media space.

Mitsubishi and Assignment have made a bold campaign to sell 20 Triton Huntaways.

Gladeye has won big for its collaboration with Huff Post Highline to deliver FML; an interactive new age form of digital story-telling. The Kiwi digital agency has pipped finalists New York Times, National Geographic and ESPN to accept awards for Web Feature Design, Web Animation, and Innovative Practice at the 53rd Annual American Society of Publication Designers Awards gala in New York. It’s one of the many polarising stories Gladeye has collaborated on including America’s Most Admired Lawbreaker, Out Here, No One Can Hear You Scream and Four Quitters Walk Into a Bar, to name a few. We sit down with the brains of the business, founder and creative director Tarver Graham, to hear about how Gladeye is transforming news stories from across the globe.

Colenso BBDO has been appointed as the lead creative agency for mobile and broadband provider Skinny.